We have proved via necropsies that the often cited "Adenovirus is rampant ion British foxes" spouted by rescues (who do not submit dead foxes for post mortem examination) and some vets is an incredibly false statement based on only a couple of old cases. There were over 80 foxes that underwent necropsies and not a single case of adenovirus.
The biggest killer of youngish foxes was leptospirosis -as discussed in the post giving the PME results. I now find that people at rescues are calling any fox that they get and which dies and has even mild signs of jaundice as "leptospirosis".
Jaundice can be caused by a number of things -as I have outlined more than once- and you can only say lepto was a cause of death if it has undergone post mortem examination (PME) and been tested.
Again, rescues I have been in contact with make up all sorts of reasons to not submit foxes for post mortems. The worst excuse that I have heard more than once is "It feels wrong to put it through that". It is dead. It cannot feel. It can, however, provide information on any i9llness etc in local foxes which then means vets can treat others.
Please stop stating leptospirosis and PLEASE submit your fox that dies for PME.
No comments:
Post a Comment